Sting operation catches umpires offering to fix matches

According to reports, six international umpires were caught on camera during a sting conducted by the India TV, willing to twist important match decisions in return for money. The six umpires who were exposed in the sting named “Operation World Cup” are : Nadeem Ghauri and Anees Siddiqui of Pakistan, Nadir Shah of Bangaldesh, and Gamini Dissanayake, Maurice Winston and Sagara Gallage of Sri Lanka. Of them, Gallage is an elite umpire em-paneled by the ICC.

Bangladeshi umpire Nadir Shah who has allegedly been caught on camera. AFP.

The India TV footage which was aired on Monday showed Gallage agreeing to leak pitch reports, playing elevens etc ahead of a match in the Sri Lankan Premier League for Rs 50,000.

Nadir Shah of Bangladesh, who has officiated close to 40 international one day matches was caught saying that he is willing to 'fix' any match - domestic or international - for money. He, allegedly, offered to modify his 'out' and 'not out' decisions in exchange of a handsome amount of money.

When contacted by various news channels, both Shah and Gallage refused to comment and rubbished the claims. While Shah rubbished the claims, Gallage, when contacted by Times Now, disconnected the call saying the correspondent had called a 'wrong number'.

The ICC lost no time in distancing itself from the said umpires and issued a statement saying, "The ICC re-iterates its zero-tolerance towards corruption whether alleged against players or officials. The ICC confirms that none of the umpires named were involved in any of the official games of the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka."

The incident joins the league of several high profile scandals which have plagued international cricket for some time now. Another India TV expose just a few days backs led to a BCCI ban on five cricketers. In an IPL spot-fixing scandal, the BCCI imposed a life ban on pacer TP Sudhindra in June this year but handed lighter punishments to four other domestic players who were also exposed in the TV sting operation.